Sandgate Road

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

The results of the most recent GP Patient Survey (published in June 2023) showed the practice performance was below the national averages for indicators relating to phone accessibility and overall experience of making an appointment. Only 8% (England average 50%, local 41%) said it was easy to get through to this GP practice by phone, however, this was based on 130 surveys sent back which represented only 1% of the patients list of 12,800 patients. 61% of patients who completed the survey said they were satisfied with the appointment offered (England average 72%, local 68%). 90% of patients who completed the survey had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to (England 93%, local 92%). The practice conducted a patient access survey in October 2023 and spring 2024. There was an increase in the number of patients who were finding it “very easy” and “fairly easy” to get through to the practice on the phone. In autumn 2023, 5.7% said it was very easy or fairly easy to get through to the practice via phone, whereas in spring 2024, this increased to 33.33%. Following the results of the survey, the practice implemented a number of changes to its appointment and telephone systems as well as its website. The second access survey was recently completed, and the results showed a significant increase in patient satisfaction across all areas. The practice has made several changes in order to improve patient access and their overall experience when contacting the practice. These included offering patients the option of face to face or telephone appointments to best suit their needs, maximising same day GP access appointments, monitoring telephone data to improve answering times and reducing abandoned calls. We saw an up-to-date summary of the practices patient population and information showed the practice had a high number of patients in care homes (200), housebound patients, severely frail and patients receiving palliative care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

The results of the most recent GP Patient Survey (published in June 2023) showed the practice performance was below the national averages for indicators relating to phone accessibility and overall experience of making an appointment. This was based on 130 surveys which represented 1% of the patient population. 8% of patients (England average 50%, local 41%) said it was easy to get through to this GP practice by phone. 61% of patients who completed the survey said they were satisfied with the appointment offered (England average 72%, local 68%). 90% of patients who completed the survey had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to (England 93%, local 92%). The practice conducted a patient access survey in October 2023 where 5.7% patients said it was ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to get through to the practice by phone. Following the results of the survey, the practice implemented a number of changes to its appointment and telephone systems as well as its website. The practice repeated the survey in Spring 2024 where 33% patients said it was ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to get through to the practice by phone. To improve patient access the practice offered patients the option of face to face or telephone appointments to best suit their needs, they maximised same day GP access appointments, and monitored telephone data to improve answering times and reduce abandoned calls.

Evidence provided by staff in leadership, management, and support roles showed clear steps taken by the practice to ensure that improving access and patient experience was a priority for the practice. Negative patient feedback about access had led the service to review performance and identify improvements. The practice has been a GP led service for several years. In addition to the 5 GP partners, they also have 2 salaried GPs and 2 GP registrars. The practice population included a high number of care home patients as well as an above average number of frail and elderly patients with multiple long-term conditions. To help ensure that this patient group received a high level of care, the practice have invested in a matron team led by 2 Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP), who are supported by their own administration team and a locum ANP, 2 days per week. In addition, they have a nursing team consisting of 3 practice nurses and 2 Health Care Assistants to help ensure they could offer a full range of nursing and chronic disease clinics. The practice’s most recent appointment data showed that the current mix of clinicians is exceeded the goals they had been given. The practice regularly reviewed staffing levels and it was identified as an agenda item for their next strategy meeting.

The practice conducted a patient access survey in October 2023. Following the results of the survey, the practice implemented a number of changes to its appointment and telephone systems as well as its website. The second access survey was recently completed, and the initial results showed a significant increase in patient satisfaction across all areas. The introduction of a new system provided data and was used to plan future demand and capacity needs. For example, the practice was able to identify the most frequently requested types of appointments and adjust the scheduling system accordingly. We were shown meeting minutes, patient feedback, and other data insights, all of which the practice had used for their decision-making prior to implementing the new system. Evidence also showed feedback from patients was continually being monitored. We were shown results of the NHS Friends and Family Test responses from May 2023 to April 2024, which showed positive experiences of patients. NHS website reviews also reflected this. Staff told us they found the Friends and Family Test (FFT) a useful tool to monitor patient satisfaction. We saw that every month there were large numbers of positive comments for example, in April 2024 90% of patients said that they would recommend the practice as being good or very good. As well as working closely with their Primary Care Network (PCN) to develop dedicated care home and home visit services, they also had a long-established matron service that ensured patients with the most urgent needs had their care and treatment prioritised. They maintained an appointment system separate to both the GPs and nurses, and patients on their case load had direct access to the team via a dedicated phone line. The PCN was successful in a bid to become 1 of 4 pathfinder sites in East Kent for the new Integrated Neighbourhood Team (INT) model. The INT project is extensive with full integration of services.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.